Manu Tuilagi should do the right thing and sign that new deal offered by Leicester

Here is some unsolicited advice for Manu Tuilagi – provided free of charge. Sign the contract that has been presented to you by Leicester, on Friday if possible.

The Tigers centre is reportedly being targeted by several other clubs, with offers containing long numbers which are mind-blowing in a rugby context.

If Worcester are really able to pay the 24-year-old £750,000 for one season, it speaks volumes for their financial potency and ambition.

Tuilagi is reportedly being courted by Worcester with an offer of £500,000 a year over three year on the table

Fair play to them for aiming high. The same goes for Wasps and Bristol and other potential suitors, who know a rare talent when they see one.

But Leicester are apparently ready to handsomely reward Tuilagi for his continuing loyalty and they have every right to expect it.

He is a fine player at full throttle, but he has not been in that rampaging state for quite some time. In fact, the Anglo-Samoan wrecking ball has not played since October last year, since when a persisting groin injury has punctuated his career and defied medical interventions.

He joined the Tigers as a 16-year-old after coming to the United Kingdom from Samoa on a holiday visa

It is an alarming predicament for a young sportsman, but it has not stopped what is shaping up as an almighty auction for his services.

Tuilagi is the one who must put a stop to it. He has developed into a Test player and a title-winner at Leicester and the club have stood by him in difficult times.

Before his groin failed him, a pectoral injury ruled him out of action for several months. Remarkably, he has worn his club’s colours on a mere 14 occasions since going on the last Lions tour in 2013. Yet, still they are desperate to keep him.

What’s more, Leicester stood resolutely by their player when he was convicted of assault earlier this year – leading to his removal from the England squad. While his subsequent explanation cast that episode in a different light, he was still able to call on the staunch support of his employers.

Since then, Aaron Mauger has arrived at Welford Road as head coach and as a shrewd former All Black centre, he is capable of taking Tuilagi’s game to the next level. That alone is a good reason to stay where he is, but there are countless reasons.

So this column’s well-intentioned advice to Manu is – postpone the transfer-market auction until later in your career. Grab a pen, sign on for another two or three years at Leicester, get fit and get back to playing the game again.

George North has agreed a new contract with Aviva Premiership club Northampton

While their East Midlands rivals strive to retain a prized asset, Northampton announced on Thursday that their Wales and Lions wing, George North, has signed a new contract to extend his stay at the club. There has been speculation linking the 23-year-old with a move back to the Scarlets, or even to another Welsh region, but he is happily settled at Franklin’s Gardens.

Now the Saints will step up attempts to harness their giant wide-man’s game-breaking qualities. Asked if North is still an X-factor threat to rival defences, Alex King, Northampton’s backs coach, said: ‘Of course he is. We’re very lucky to have him. There’s so much expectation on George.’

Ahead of the Saints’ home clash with Gloucester on Friday night, King added: ‘In this fixture last season, he scored four tries. That’s not going to happen every weekend of course, but that’s the sort of player he is. George is fit and enjoying his rugby. He needs to get on the ball a bit more and it is up to me to get him to do that.’

NFL star Tom Brady of New England Patriots (left) and his namesake at Sale Sharks (right)

Sale have had unexpected contact from American football side the New England Patriots over an amusing case of mistaken identity, which has resonated across the Atlantic.

When the club’s 24-year-old, Mancunian wing, Tom Brady, opened up a Twitter account, he was stunned to find himself with around 60,000 followers before he had even posted a message on the social media outlet.

It emerged that NFL fans in the States had confused him with another Tom Brady – the superstar Patriots quarter-back who has four Super Bowl titles on his stellar CV and a supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen. Crucially, the American Brady is not signed up to Twitter; hence the confusion.

Sale’s Brady has made light of it by posting occasional tweets about the Patriots, who have been alerted to the situation and have called the Sharks at their Carrington base, to ask for footage of the Englishman being interviewed on the subject. With the American Brady and team-mates seemingly surging towards another Super Bowl appearance, his English namesake should angle for an invite…

Sam Burgess is glad to be back among family and friends in Sydney, but he is not yet back in rugby league – officially. Having made an abrupt exit from Bath to return to the 13-man game in Australia’s prestigious NRL, the 26-year-old finds himself in limbo; stuck between the codes.

He has left union, only to find that his return to the South Sydney Rabbitohs has stalled, as his wages would take the club over the salary cap.

It is an embarrassing situation for the team – co-owned by Hollywood actor Russell Crowe – who Burgess inspired to Grand Final glory last year – and will mean them having to release other players in order to accommodate the powerful Yorkshireman.

Presumably, Sam will be desperately hoping that neither of his twin brothers, Tom and George, are forced to make way, otherwise the family reunion Down Under might quickly turn sour!

Last Word

The after-shocks from England’s World Cup campaign continue. Days after Luther Burrell claimed that he felt ‘let down’ by the-then head coach, Stuart Lancaster, over his omission from the tournament squad, Bath lock Dave Attwood has vented his own frustrations. ‘I jumped through every hoop they wanted me to,’ he told ESPN.

‘I was involved in 19 of the last 23 Tests for England leading up to the squad announcement – then I was cut out of the picture altogether.’ What is most revealing is that Attwood was first told to bulk up and build strength, then a year later he was told he needed to be more trim and mobile. As with Burrell, frustration stemmed from a feeling that the goalposts kept shifting.

The 28-year-old added: ‘I hope the new era with Eddie Jones gets that excitement back.’ One of the key tasks for England’s new head coach will be to galvanise men who were left demoralised by being overlooked in the summer. Players will accept the slings and arrows of the selection process if there is clarity and a sense that all contenders have an even shot.